The United Nations has appointed Major General Per Lodin of Sweden as Chief Military Observer to monitor the ceasefire in disputed Jammu and Kashmir region, one of the most heavily militarized regions.
Lodin will head the mission called the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), which is tasked with monitoring ceasefire in the UN-recognized disputed territory.
He will succeed Major General Delali Johnson Sakyi of Ghana, who completes his two-year assignment on July 2.
“The Secretary-General is grateful to Major General Sakyi for his contribution to United Nations Peacekeeping,” Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s spokesman said.
UNMOGIP was deployed in January 1949 to supervise the ceasefire between India and Pakistan in the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
The group, based in Rawalpindi, is composed of 44 military observers, supported by 25 international civilian personnel and 47 local civilian staff.
The longstanding Jammu and Kashmir dispute has also been described as a nuclear flashpoint, with both New Delhi and Islamabad sticking to their stated positions. The absence of a peace dialogue between the two South Asian nuclear powers has further hurt prospects for regional stability. In 2014 and 2015, the two countries exchanged heavy fire across the Line of Control.
With a military career in the Swedish Army beginning in 1978, Major General Lodin most recently held the position of Director of Procurement and Logistics for the Swedish Armed Forces.
Previous to this he was the Deputy Director of the National Armaments for Sweden (2012-2014).
General Lodin also served as Director of Strategic Planning and Development (2008), Head of Strategies,Research and Development and Business Development (2007) and Deputy Chief of Staff at the Swedish Armed Forces (2005-2006).
General Lodin is a member of the Swedish Academy of Military Science.
He holds a diploma from the Graduate Institute of International studies based in Geneva and attended the United Nations Senior Mission Leaders course in 2015.
